Friday, September 10, 2010

We all know that there is a financial aspect to adoption. Most of us try not to talk about it. It's something that may be difficult for our children to understand at a young age. Even if I didn't adopt, I wouldn't want my children to feel they are a financial burden in any way. I have heard people say that if you can't afford it, then you shouldn't be adopting. I do have to agree. .. to a certain extent. We plan, we budget, we cut from our budget, we go without things people feel are necessities (like cell phones, dates, babysitters, eating at restaurants--although we do take our kids to McDonald's every now and then--movies). We shop at garage sales or sales, rarely paying full price for anything. We research and wait for the best deals. We are THOSE people who ask sales associates for a discount and almost ALWAYS get one. We use cloth diapers--kind of a big investment up front, but we are on our third child now. . . saving big (and not to mention, saving some space in the land fill!). We always attempt our own repairs before calling a service person. We fixed our dishwasher (lucky), unclogged our bathtub (FINALLY), and we our sink is kind of draining, S L O W L Y. Hubby does our oil changes and I attempt hair cuts. . . ummmmmm. . . .not always with success. There are a million more cost cutters that we use. . . .

If you know us, or have read my blog--you know that we are in the process of completing our third adoption. We have funded all three without taking out loans. Well almost. Sometimes all the right things happen way before you have planned! We did not plan on getting chosen a mere six weeks after being in the book. Seriously. We thought it would be at least a year, probably closer to two. And then this special situation came to us and felt so right. Unfortunately, we didn't have that "year" to save up the rest of the money we needed so we cashed out a retirement fund to help, started selling things on craigslist, picked up extra shifts/hours at work, and took on more cleaning jobs. I am a firm believer that if you really want something, you can make it work. You just have to do the work to achieve your dreams. We are ordinary people, with dreams of having our family, just like anyone else. Sad part--we actually have $13000 in rollover of that awesome federal adoption tax credit--that we may never see. We really don't make a whole lot of money--remember we are ordinary people--and we only have 5 years to collect it. 2 years are gone and now we have 3 dependents. Slim to none that we will get even $5000 of it. Sad because it is ordinary families like ours that could really use it to help with life!

We are still in the process of completing our third adoption. We are still unsure of what the final costs will be. Our social worker told us about GIFT OF ADOPTION and felt that our family and our special situation met the criteria to be eligible for a grant. WHAT?!? You mean ask for money when we have always done things for ourselves? So we applied. It was not an easy process. Kind of like a homestudy with lots of questions. :0) Trust me, they are not just handing out money! haha! Enough said. . .

Gift of Adoption awarded us a grant to help complete our adoption! It was truly another blessing in our lives that we were not expecting! Sometimes all the right things happen at the right time! :0) I encourage anyone thinking about making a charitable donation to check out the GIFT OF ADOPTION FUND. Donations to the Gift of Adoption Fund help ordinary families like us get across that finish line with a little less financial burden, with a little more hope and a little less worry about being able to provide for these children that we love so very much. They gave us back some of our time to spend with our family. They gave us back some of our sanity. They gave us back some time to just breath. They gave to us without taking away our dignity. We hope to repay them someday, by giving back to another family, just like us, in a little need to get over that hump. We hope you will think about it too.

Get the word out! The more money that is donated, the more grants they can award! Think of all the lives you can have such a great and wonderful impact on! :0) Here are some recent pictures of our beautiful family celebrating at the wedding of Jakob's birthmother's sister's wedding. Confused? We'll just call her aunt Megan.